Method of treating lubricants



Patented Mar. 17, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM ORTONSTEVENS, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO ANTI HOT BOX COMPANY,INCORPORATED, OF PRINCETON, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS METHODOF TREATING LUBRICANTS No Drawing. Application filed June 15,

This invention relates to methods of increasmgthe lubricating propertiesof oils.

'An obJect of the invention is to provide an improved simple andinexpensive method.

maining in said ashes is fully consumed.

- The proportion of animal bone mixed with the wood ashes is susceptibleof considerable variation without .materially changing the final result,but the preferred proportions are ninety-eight per cent of ashes to twoper cent of bone. This heating opera-tionmay be accomplished in anydesired manner, it being preferred, however, in practicing the inventionon a large scale to continuously pass the ashes through a rotary kiln.

Treatnient'of the oil by the ashes or mixture of ashes and ground bonemay be variously accomplished, the primary essential being to thoroughlysaturate with the oil a quantity of the ashes or mixture properlyproportioned to the body of oil to be treated and the immersion(preferably complete) of the active solid in said body of oil for anadequate time to permit the solid to act on the entire body of oil. Onemethod of applying the treatment is as follows. 1

A body of oil to be treated is placed in a suitable tank or othercontainer and a proportionate quantity of the ashes or mixture are putinto a receiver having a perforated bottom or Wall with its perforationscovered by suitable filtering material, as for example, cotton orfeltsheeting. A suflicient thickness of such material should be used toquite positively avoid any escape of solid particles from the receiverinto the surrounding oil body. After its contents have been thoroughlysaturated with the oil, the receiver is immersed (preferably completely)in the oil to be treated. The preliminary saturation of the ashespermits the receiver to be of an open-topped type without any upwardREISSUED floating of the ashes into the oil. The described immersion iscontinued for a suitable period of time, preferably for about fortyeighthours, the receiver then being removed orthe oil drawn off. It has beenfound that the satisfactory treatment of five gallons of lubricating oilmay be effected by the treatment of such oil, as described, byapproximately one pound of the active solid.

. While the precise manner in which oil 1929. Serial No. 371,306;

responds to the presence of the ashes or mixv ture is not fullyunderstood, it has been thoroughly established by innumerable tests thatthe described treatment of oil accomplishes a very perceptible increasein its lubricating value. Tests have shown that the treated oil is fromten to forty per cent more effective in reducing friction than untreatedoil. In employing the treated oil for lubricating internal combustionengines, it has been found that the time requisite for breaking in suchengines is only one fifth as great where the treated oil is used as isrequired under use of the untreated oil. In other tests cylinders ofmotor vehicle engines lubricated by the treated oil have shown noappreclable wear after forty thousand (40,000) miles of travel.

A peculiar and desirable characteristic of thc lubricating oil treatedin accordance with this invention is-the fact that its use appreciablyreduces the friction cocflicient's of engaging surfaces lubricated bysuch oil. Thus such oil finds a large field of use in lubricatduring theburnishing and polishing thereof. It is further to be noted that thedescribed treatment effects a marked increase in the penetratingcapacity of lubricating oils,

adapting them to enter restricted spaces far more readily than before.

A highly desirable feature of the described treatment is the fact thatthe active solid (namely, wood ashes) forming the main essential to thetreatment is practically a waste product, rendering the cost of thetreatment very slight.

While it appears from such tests and ex-. periments as have beenperformed at this time that hardwood ashes together with a smallpercentage of finely divided animal bone may be employed to bestadvantage as the active agent, it is to be noted that desirable resultshave been obtained by hardwood ashes alone.

What I claim is:

1. A method of treating lubricating oil, consisting in first thoroughlydrying wood ashes, then so immersing the dried ashes in the oil to betreated as to insure a saturation of the ashes by the oil, and finallyremoving the ashes from the oil.

2. A method of treating lubricating oil, consisting in thoroughly dryingwood ashes and animal bone and mixing a relatively small quantity of thebone, in a finely divided state, with the ashes, then immersing themixture in the oil to be treated so as to insure a complete saturationof the mixture 'by the oil, and finally removing the mixture from theoil.

3. A method of treating lubricating oil, consisting in thoroughly dryingwood ashes,

placingsaid ashes in a container pervious to oil, immersing saidcontainer and its contents in the oil to be treated, for a period oftime permitting thorough penetration of the ashes by the oil, andremoving the container and its contents from the oil.

4. A method of treating lubricating oil consisting in thoroughly dryingwood ashes, immersing the dried ashes in the oil to be treated insubstantially the ratio of one pound of the ashes to five gallons of theoil, and removing the ashes subsequent to their thorough penetration bythe oil.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification.

WILLIAM O. STEVENS.

